Nonetheless
by sve-aph
Summary: Nobody could say for sure when Matthias and Lukas became friends. Even Matthias wasn't sure when he would say that his begrudgingly affectionate brother was no longer his best friend. Lukas would never say that Matthias was his best friend, but that's because Lukas never claimed anybody to be his best friend.


**This was a semi-birthday present for my sister. It explores the several of the platonic relationships in the nordics, but particularly between Norway and Denmark.**

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Lukas and Emil had an awkward relationship, strife with puberty and the chafing of divorced parents. They went to school together, but they didn't live together. Their interests didn't cross, yet they both wished for nothing more than to connect in the way they'd been deprived of. Lukas and Emil sat together sometimes after school in the cafeteria, studying. They didn't take the same classes. They couldn't help each other. They didn't listen to the same music. But over the course of the years, they started to realize they shared the same strange humor. The humor that found Berwald and Tino's infinite dance on the line between romantic and platonic funny, but not the absurd lengths that Alfred would go to in order to impress any person he met. Lukas and Emil's relationship lay in the quirk at the corner of their mouths when Lovino pulled Antonio's chair out from underneath him for the fourth day in a row. It was in the cross of their legs when they focused on a particular problem. It was in the way tension rested in their temples and forearms, held steady until they burst (but they never burst, not in anger, not towards each other).

Berwald remembered the day he and Lukas met; he had a very good memory. They'd been the same since that first day: a comfortable silence of understanding, rarely crossing the threshold into uneasy. Berwald and Lukas had grown up together, developed their interests together, made friends together. They didn't walk together in the halls, but they saw each other in several classes throughout the day. In some classes they sat together, but in other classes they didn't. It didn't matter. Regardless, they'd look up and make eye contact when someone's offhand comment struck their fancy. Berwald's sense of humor was equally cruel, but fairly cornier than Lukas'. He'd laugh at Francis' overdramatic pick-up lines against his own common sense, while Lukas would snicker at Berwald's helpless humor. Berwald didn't ask if Lukas remembered the day they met. It didn't matter in the end.

Tino had just secured his freshman role in the school play when he made contact with the theater's legendary Ber. Director Vargas had reminded the cast and crew that their favorite audience would be watching rehearsal for the first time. Curious, Tino peeked out of the thick red curtains to see the gangly blonde sophomore he'd seen lurking around hockey practice. Berwald appeared at every rehearsal from there on out, and eventually Tino sat down next to him during a break. They formed a fragile friendship, hesitant in every way on Berwald's part. Tino was never sure what held Berwald's tongue and kept him from truly speaking his mind around him, but their friendship stayed steady despite it. At last Tino lured his friend into hanging out outside of rehearsal and discovered (much to Tino's delight) that he can make Berwald laugh, and that Berwald's laugh was shocking and unhesitating, a deep whale of a laugh. They were rarely seen apart after that day.

Matthias was entering the prime of his hockey career when Tino arrived on the hockey scene; a bright freshman straight from Finland. The younger player's accent was still strong, but his enthusiasm was unwavering in every way. After a few days of sitting at the top of the bleachers with Berwald and watching Tino stay late to practice his footwork, Matthias managed to swallow his jealousy and support his teammate with the overwhelming fervor he was known for. Once Matthias acknowledged Tino, the rest of the team followed suit and easily accepted him into their social ranks. Matthias and Tino were two birds of a feather: loud, crass, and unexpectedly sweet. They both adored Berwald and spent plenty of time together plotting ways to entice Berwald out of his routine. It was through this easy camaraderie that Matthias found himself making more friends than ever.

Lukas and Matthias didn't fit together very well, not at first, and not for a very long time. They'd always been in close proximity to each other due to Lukas and Berwald's friendship, but it wasn't until high school that they ever said more than a word or two to each other in passing. Lukas disapproved of Matthias' brash, aggressive ways, but he was his best friend's brother, so he never said anything against him. Matthias couldn't understand why his brother's best friend was so cold to him. As far as he knew, he'd never done anything wrong. But, as Berwald liked to quietly remind him, Matthias was rarely aware of when he did something wrong.

Matthias took each potential friendship as a challenge, as something to conquer. The prospect of easing (read: bowling) his way into Lukas' heart thrilled him. He wanted Lukas to smile at him and sit with him while he read or studied. He wanted to be Lukas' friend, though it seemed impossible. Lukas, on the other hand, made friends a different way. He didn't join clubs or sports teams or performing arts groups. He was sensitive, almost. He got overwhelmed easily. He made friends as they came, quietly, studiously. He didn't want to work to be comfortable with someone. So he didn't. And Matthias made Lukas uncomfortable. He was loud, and incessant in everything he did. Sometimes, when Matthias got excited about something, he would keep talking louder and faster and louder until Lukas felt like he couldn't breathe and he would _snap_ at him.

Matthias got very quiet when Lukas snapped at him, and Lukas found that he didn't like that kind of quiet.

Sometimes Matthias only drove Lukas home, when the occasion arose. Sometimes Matthias allowed himself to fill the silence between them with his natural passion for every conceivable subject, but Lukas never replied to the incessant chatter from his spot in the backseat. Other times he was quiet, and would watch Lukas through the rearview mirror. Sometimes their eyes would meet until Matthias would have to return his focus to the road.

Lukas knew that his friendship was a goal to Matthias, and he hated it. He hated the expectation to resist or give in to the junior's efforts. He didn't like the tension that formed in his gut every time he was supposed to say something, so most of the time he said nothing at all. Sometimes he'd get caught up in actually listening to Matthias, and he'd forget about the fact that he was just a trophy to be had, but the moment silence reigned between them it would come crashing back and Lukas would slow his breath and focus on anything but Matthias.

Eventually, Matthias forgot about the chase. He liked Lukas as a person, not as another person, but as Lukas as a person. It was a fairly new feeling to him, something that typically came long after he actually called someone else his friend, and he hunted that feeling like none other. He found excuses to stay late, even when he didn't have hockey, so he could offer to drive Lukas home. Sometimes, it seemed like Lukas was happy to see him.

Nobody could say for sure when Matthias and Lukas became friends. Even Matthias wasn't sure when he would say that his begrudgingly affectionate brother was no longer his best friend. Lukas would never say that Matthias was his best friend, but that's because Lukas never claimed anybody to be his best friend. One day Berwald came home to find the two lounging on the couch, Matthias playing xbox, Lukas' legs resting in the other's lap while he read. Berwald wasn't sure when it became a familiar sight, but familiar it was nonetheless.

Matthias and Lukas had relaxed into a system. Matthias could talk all he wanted, and Lukas would listen, except when he didn't, and he would reply, except when he forgot. And that was okay. Matthias knew how to gently grab Lukas' attention when he really wanted to tell him something. Lukas knew how to ask Matthias to be quieter when he got to be too much. It was odd, but it worked. Sometimes Matthias would repeat things, and Lukas would take quiet amusement from it instead of irritation. Sometimes Lukas would blink and ask Matthias to repeat the past minute of narration, as he'd wholly forgotten to listen, and Matthias would laugh and start his story over.

Nobody could say when the fact that Matthias and Lukas were an inseparable unit became familiar, but familiar it was nonetheless.

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 **Tell me what you thought 3**


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